There is substantial evidence that deuterium in drinking water can be detrimental to good health. For example, there is evidence that high concentration of deuterium in water (heavy water) leads to the loss of activity and to varies diseases in higher animals and studies indicate that alga ceases the growth and development when suspended in heavy water. Studies have also shown an increase in the rate of photosynthesis of plants and increased efficiency on gaining of biomass with the use of low deuterium water as compared to control groups using standard water.
The concentration of heavy water in standard water is 150-160 ppm. Decreasing of the deuterium concentration influences biological activity of the water. Studies indicate that decreasing of deuterium from 150 to 50 ppm leads to a 40% increase in growth of Japanese quails. Other studies have indicted that seed production of the plants can increase as much as on 56% with the use of low deuterium water.
A prior art method of deuterium-free water production is based on electrolysis of distillate water. Separation by electrolysis is based on differences between ions mobility coefficients. Mobility coefficients for H+ is 349.8 cm v−1s−1 for D+ is 250.1 cm v−1s−1, for OH− is 197.6 cm v−1s−1 and for OD− is 119.0 cm v−1s−1. The theoretical coefficient of electrochemical achieves a factor of seven decrease in deuterium concentration. The method is very expensive as electrolysis is a high power consumption technology.
The prior art includes a number of methods for producing potable water from seawater by desalination. Practically all methods are very heavy energy consumers except desalination by using solar energy. These systems are called solar stills. These stills include an evaporator having a roof made of a light-penetrable material, and an underlying black basin containing the water that is to be evaporated. Water vapor is condensed on the inside of the roof and flows down to the reservoir for the condensed water. The roof can be made from glass or plastic material. The efficiency of a system of this type is determined by the heat utilized to vaporize the water collected divided by the solar heat collected by the system.
What is needed is a system and process to produce low deuterium water from seawater.